Structural health monitoring is becoming of ever-increasing significance for many industries. One industry for which this is becoming especially significant is the aerospace industry. This is because, among other things, the structural integrity of systems and components in the aerospace industry can possibly cause in-flight shutdowns, take-off aborts, delays, or cancellations, all of which can result in significant industry and consumer costs.
Some structural health monitoring systems rely on system models to predict future structural performance and to detect likely structural faults. One limitation with these systems is that the models may not be sufficiently accurate to adequately account for all variables that can affect structural health. As a result, these systems reduce the ability to adequately monitor structural health.
Hence, there is a need for a system and method of physically monitoring the structural health of one or more systems or components, without relying on potentially inaccurate models. The present invention addresses at least this need.